Hector
by sneezingapple
Summary: The youth of our beloved Hector is an unlikely tale, and cost him the rest of his life. BarbossaxOC
1. A New Face

**A New Face.**

Shipwreck Cove.

Captain Teague was wandering through the bookcase in his cabin. He really wished he didn't have to be the keeper of the keys because it meant that he could never leave. There was no pleasurable company around and the sense of adventure from leaving for voyage to a land-of-wonder-and-discovery was completely out of the question. He knew he hated reading but it was something to do.

"Oh soddit," he cried, and he sat at his desk.

He swung to and fro on his chair for a while. He looked to his left at his beloved lute. He noticed that he had used a small back book to prop it up with. He wandered over and picked it up. It was about A5 size, a couple of dozen pages long and had a shiny black cover on with a rather attractive Jolly Roger on the front.

Teague took the book back to the desk and opened the fist page. There was a picture of a witch or soothsayer drawing on the ground with chalk. Then there was a diagram of what she was drawing. It was all etched in very neatly with shading and extreme accuracy.

He flicked through the pages. There were more etchings of chalk drawings throughout the book. Each had notes in pencil of instructions on how to do the drawings correctly.

"Are these rituals?" he thought to himself, "There's only one way to find out!"

He flicked through the book randomly.

"Ah-hah!" he said, "This looks interesting!"

The diagram was of a huge skull with circle eyes, a triangular nose and crude looking teeth. There were also various stars and lines imprinted on the skulls cheeks and forehead. The whole thing was then surrounded by double circles. There appeared to be writing of some kind in the gaps between the circles, but was probably Latin or Ancient Greek or some other old, dead language.

"Now where is there likely to be any chalk around here?"

Teague looked through every draw in the room until he found a suitable piece of chalk to draw on the floor with. It was pale yellow, but was probably once white.

He got on all fours with the book on the floor in front of him. He followed the diagram to the letter. He picked up the book then stood up to admire his handiwork.

"Was something supposed to happen?" he asked himself, "Or it just there to look pretty?"

He stood there staring at it for a while.

"Bah!" said Teague and he threw the chalk down and tossed the book aside, "At least it gave me something to do for a little while."

He then stumbled out the room and up to bed. Three and a half bottles of rum later he slept soundly.

The clock chimed midnight.

The chalk on the floor turned to powder. The floorboards where the drawing was made swirled in on itself creating a sort of black hole in the ground. White smoke and bright light filled the room.

A girl was thrown up from the hole and landed on the floor with a thud.

"BLOODY HELL!" she yelled, and said a sarcastic "Ouch!"

Teague snorted and then continued sleeping soundly.

The girl had a very pale complexion, looked about 13 or 14 years old and had short, pale grey hair. She was wearing a large dark purple dress with black underlining and white laced sleeves.

"Where am I?" she muttered.


	2. Finding Her Way

**Finding Her Way**

The girl stumbled out of closed room onto a main corridor. There were bookshelves along one side, full of cobwebs and dust and somewhere among there; books. Along the other wall were paintings of shipwrecks, pirates and maps.

She wandered past an open door. She peeped inside to find Captain Teague sleeping with an empty bottle of rum in hand. She walked past hurriedly.

"I don't want to be here," he whispered, "I don't think."

"Then where do you want to be?" asked a voice behind her.

She turned around in surprise. Before her stood a young boy, thirteen years old to be precise. He wore big black boots, thin, pale yellow trousers, a grubby white shirt with all the buttons open and he had a dark grey bandana around his head. His hair was short, straight and light brown. He looked pretty average but had that spark in the eye of a friend.

"Hector's the name," he said, "But my friends normally just call me Barbossa. See that's my name also... Hector... Barbossa... Hector Barbossa."

He was fumbling his words. He looked around, as if looking for something to say. He looked up and grinned.

"And you're name is?" he asked.

The girl was somewhat taken aback. She stepped back slightly as if to try and avoid the question but Hector leaned in and smiled warmly.

"Well," she said, "I have... um... many names."

Hector tilted his head slightly.

"You're not right in the head, are you?" he muttered. "Never mind, eh? Come on, I'll show you round."

He grabbed her by the wrist and led her down the corridor to an opening. They walked through it and they appeared to be outside. The girl looked around to find that they were actually in a very large cave. The floor they were walking on was a kind of dock held up on stilts over a body of water.

"Welcome to the Brethren Court," said Hector, "It's where all the Pirate Lords stay and drink, basically. There's not much here really. Come on, there's a pub over there. We can talk there."

He smiled sweetly. She was still in a state of confusion and surprise. He took her wrist again and led her into an inn next door. She was still looking around trying to get her bearings. She appeared not to be too well on her feet as she kept stumbling, walking on the sides of her foot and dragging her feet sometimes.

They sat down at a table facing each other, in the corner of the room. Hector waved to the guy at the bar gestured the number two to him.

"Two today, Jim," he said.

Sure enough, Jim walked over to the table with two bottles, set them down and waddled back behind the bar, to clean glasses and such. He was a heavily built man, shaven head and large tattoos covering his arms and neck.

"So what brings you here, missie?" asked Hector as he took a swig from his bottle.

The girl looked around the inn. There were about ten other people there, but room for a hundred! There was one guy in the opposite corner with a concertina and another talking to him. The rest were sitting alone or in twos, deeply immersed in their own thoughts. The place had a sort of hum, what with the occasional chatter, the singing of the working men outside and the odd musical ode from the corner. She looked back at her drink.

"What is this?" he asked, "It looks vile."

"It's rum," whispered Hector, "And don't say that too loud, you might offend some people round here."

"Fine, you have mine," she said as she pushed it to his side of the table.

"Only if you'll be sociable and talk to me," he said as he finished off his round with a single gulp.

She nodded, staring at a point in the wooden table.

"So, what's you're name?" he asked, "And what brings you here?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." she said.

"Ha!" he laughed, "Try me! Some of the stories I have heard..."

She watched him take another swig of rum before continuing.

"There are some who call me the bearer of bad news," she whispered, "But for want of a better name, I am more commonly known as Death..."


	3. Believing

**Believing**

Hector stared into her eyes, smiling lovingly.

"Wow," he said, "You really did get hit on the head hard at some point, didn't you? Either that or it's just a genetic thing. Where you're parent's cousins?"

He laughed aloud. Her cold dark eyes glared back.

"You know, if you were to say that to anyone else around here they'd have believed you," he chucked, "My, my. Frown all you want, love! Just because I have half a mind to know better..."

"You know," she said loudly and belittlingly, "I wasn't supposed to tell you that! Nobody is allowed to know, by rights! And you laugh in my face? Well, thank you!"

Hector threw his head back in hysterics. She stood up suddenly and angrily headed towards the door.

"No wait! I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he chuckled, "Don't go, I didn't mean it. Stay here a bit, eh?"

She stopped abruptly before the door. The whole room went silent. Hector, still wheezing, turned back to his drink muttering "Death indeed" under his breath. It was only then that he realised that there was not a sound to be heard. There was no hustle and bustle of the men outside, no quiet chatter of the men inside or music from the men in the corner.

He stood up hastily with a look of fear on his face. He walked over to Jim at the bar. He appeared to be dropping a glass on the floor, but it was in a freeze frame. The glass lay suspended in the air and Jim was in mid-jump to catch it. Hector waved his hands above and below the glass, then in front of Jim's face. Nothing.

He looked around the rest of the inn to find the man on the far table in mid-gulp. The man opposite him was in mid-word as his mouth hung open.

"Convinced?"

He spun around so fast that he nearly lost his balance. _She_ was staring at him with a very smug expectant look on her face.

"Who... H... How?... How'd you do that?" asked Hector dumbly.

"There are things dying all the time. I need to be able to stop it once in a while to... you know... catch up," she said simply.

Hector nodded dimly and continued to look around the room. "Makes sense," he said.

There was a short pause for Barbossa to collect his thoughts.

"So, you are actually Death, then?" he asked.

She nodded slowly. It was best not to be satirical when he was _this _confused.

"S'a bit of a depressing name though isn't it?" he said as his eyes wandered back to her face, "What do you want me to call you instead?"

"It's more of a name than an occupation," she shrugged, "I dunno. I don't actually have any other name. And it's not like I've ever had any friends to want to call me by a name so... I've never needed to think about it."

She looked down sheepishly with embarrassment and shame. Hector was now looking around the room again in wonder, but thinking on what name would be suitable. I mean, he'd only just met her, right? It wasn't like he'd know an appropriate name that would suit her character and way of life.

"How about Dee?" he asked, "D for Death? Dee... D? Hm?"

He looked back at her. Her head rose, but she was still looking at the floor. She contemplated this name. It rang in her head for a while. She looked at his face again.

"It'll do," she grinned.


	4. What Now?

**What Now?

* * *

**

Time was resumed.

CRASH went the glass as it hit the floor. BANG went Jim as he followed it. Hector and D watched and winced on the impact.

"Is he okay?" asked D.

"It's Jim," smiled Hector, "He'll be fine."

D smiled and sighed. She looked down at her feet. She wasn't wearing any shoes, as she'd had no need for them where she was from. She wriggled her toes and slid them along the floor slightly. She sighed again and looked up. Hector had been watching her and had a look of comic puzzlement on his face.

"So, what do we do now?" said D, changing the subject quickly.

Hector was slightly taken aback. He looked around as if thinking about something and then remembered something. He walked towards the door taking D by the wrist as he went.

"We have to go," he said bluntly, "Just remembered."

"Where are we going?" asked D as she struggled to keep up with his large strides.

They were walking along the dockside and keeping close to the shadows of the buildings along the edge.

"Shh," he said, "Keep quiet, I'll tell you later."

They appeared to be heading for the end of the dock, on the side closest to the mouth of the cave they were in. Suddenly, Hector stopped momentarily and then ducked into a small side alley dragging D clumsily behind.

"What the...?" began D, but Hector covered her mouth with his hand.

"Shh!" he hissed. He stayed very still.

A man walked past the alley and Hector stood more still than before (if that was even possible) as stared at him as he walked past. He was a big man in both height and waist size and didn't look like a man to be reckoned with. His right arm had a large tattoo of an octopus and above it, a heart with a scroll saying "Mother". His left arm was covered in a pattern that seemed to resemble fire. He walked with a sort of waddle or sway because of his sheer size.

Then he was out of sight. Hector let go of D but they both stayed in the comfort of the shadows.

"Who was that?" hissed D.

"That," began Hector, "Is the captain of the ship we are going to hitch a ride on."

He peered around the corner to check if the coast was clear.

"Are you allowed to do that?" said D.

"Of course not," sighed Hector, "Why do you think we were hiding? Jeez, so naive."

D huffed and walked out smartly from the alley. Hector followed closely keeping a sharp eye for the captain and any of the crew.

It was night time, but the cave mouth didn't let much light in so it was difficult to tell anyway. Hector and D continued along the dock until they reached the very end, where the ship lay. It was a small vessel, as were the rest in the dock. It had three masts and yellowing sails. Te woodwork all over the ship was a wash of deep blue and dark green details on the rails and shutters. There were two men on board and they were busy packing and sorting the ship, ready for sail early the next morning.

"The rest of the crew will be staying in the local inns tonight," explained Hector quietly, "Or they'll be on board now asleep. Now is time we go aboard. Remember, stay quiet. You have no reason to speak until we've set sail, and even then, try not to."

D nodded dumbly and obediently. Did she really have a choice in the matter? Here she was, on earth, with one new found friend. He had already plans to leave a criminal ridden place, and hey, that wasn't the worst of ideas now was it? Except for the fact that the captain was the roughest in the area wasn't exactly great, but she had no idea what things were like down here.

Hector led the way towards the back of the ship. He jumped onto a ledge and gave D a hand up. They sidled along the back until they came across a shutter on the side of the ship. If they'd have fallen, they'd have landed straight into the sea, but luckily they didn't. Hector peered in through the shutter and saw that it was clear to enter. It was a tight squeeze but he made it through. He gave D a hand and she managed it. She was more petite, shall we say, than Hector.

It was pitch black inside. No lamps or daylight peeping through (not that there is any daylight in a cave). Hector took D by the hand and they walked towards the back of the ship. They appeared to be in the store hold, from what little could be seen. They sat down on a couple of barrels and waited silently, hoping not to be found.


End file.
